నైరూప్య

Bacteriophages are natural gift, could we pay further attention!

Nahla M Mansour

Bacteriophages, which occasionally termed phages, are known as "bacteria eaters" or “bacteria viruses” that infect and kill bacterial cells demonstrating specific infection based on the species of bacteria. These tiny microorganisms are abundant in nature and they do not infect human cells or any cell lines from other organisms. Bacteriophages have been documented as a potential substitute to antibiotics in animal health, as biopreservatives in foods and as tools for detecting pathogenic bacteria. In recent years there is a great interest for using them in food industry and medical therapies as potential biocontrol means and to treat bacterial diseases respectively. This article briefly summarizes the history and properties of the bacteriophages and highlights their potential advanced applications.